How to structure a blog post: outline, sections, and how to end it

Structure comes first because most readers scan before they read. In Nielsen Norman Group's 1997 study of web reading, 79 percent of test users "always scanned any new page they came across; only 16 percent read word-by-word." For a scanner, the headings are the post. This page builds that skeleton in five steps; the full writing process is in our guide on how to write a blog post.

Step 1: Take the outline from the results page

Search the query before you write a heading, because the results often settle the format. Ahrefs' example is "best productivity app": searchers want several apps, and Google "ranks only listicles for that topic," so a review of a single app would answer a question nobody asked. That is search intent deciding the shape before anything else.

Then list the subtopics that most ranking pages cover. Ahrefs' reasoning is simple: "if most of these pages are covering certain subtopics, then it's likely they're important to your readers." Add the questions in the People also ask box, cut anything off your angle, and what is left is your list of candidate H2s. Put them in the order the reader needs them, then write the query, the angle and the outline into a short content brief before drafting.

Step 2: Pick the outline template for your format

Ahrefs notes that "most blog posts you read are variations of the same templates." Here are four, for the most common formats. Each numbered line is an H2 unless it says otherwise.

How-to

1. What you need before you start: tools, time, prerequisites
2. One H2 per step, in the order the reader does them, with H3s for sub-steps
3. Common mistakes, or what to do when a step fails
4. What to do next, once the task is done

Listicle

1. How the items were chosen, in a short section
2. One H2 per item, each readable on its own by someone who skipped straight to it
3. How to choose between them, often as a summary table

Comparison

1. The verdict first, as "choose X if" and "choose Y if"
2. A comparison table of the criteria that matter
3. One H2 per criterion, with the winner named in the heading
4. Who should pick which

Explainer

1. The definition, in the first paragraph and without a heading
2. How it works
3. Examples
4. When it matters and when it does not
5. The common confusions, or how it differs from its neighbors

Inside a template, sections still need an order: by theme, by time, from easy to hard, or problem first and fixes after. Our post on writing a blog entry sets out those four orders and the reader each one suits.

Step 3: Write headings that work on their own

Make them descriptive, not clever. Nielsen Norman Group's guidance for scannable text calls for "meaningful sub-headings (not 'clever' ones)." A heading should make sense in a table of contents, with the rest of the page hidden. Google can even draw on page headings when it generates a result's title link.

Give each H2 one idea. If a section needs two answers, it is two sections. Use H3s for the steps, options or examples inside an H2, not for new ideas.

Keep the levels in order, for readers rather than rankings. web.dev explains that correct heading levels "form a succinct outline of the overall page content" and advises: "Ideally, you won't skip heading levels." Screen reader users navigate by them. Google is clear that order is not a search factor: "Having your headings in semantic order is fantastic for screen readers, but from Google Search perspective, it doesn't matter if you're using them out of order." On most WordPress themes the post title is already the page's H1, so headings inside the post start at H2.

Open each section with its answer. Backlinko recommends section subheadings "that open with a direct answer to the question implied in the heading," because AI systems lift sections rather than whole posts: "They extract chunks." A section that starts with its answer also serves the reader who jumped to it from the table of contents.

Step 4: Outline what goes under each heading

Before drafting, add a few bullets under every heading. Ahrefs lists the kind of bullets that help: a brief explanation of the argument, examples, potential expert quotes, and "Data you'll be citing." Keep them as notes; in Ahrefs' words, "This is an outline, not the actual post."

The bullets show where the weight goes. Sections that answer the main question get the most material; side questions get a paragraph or move to the FAQ. Evidence belongs inside the section that makes the claim, next to it, never collected at the end. The total length then follows from the outline rather than from a target, and blog post length covers how to check it against the pages that rank.

Ahrefs ends with a step that is easy to skip: send the outline to someone else before drafting. A missing section is far cheaper to add to an outline than to a finished draft.

Step 5: End with the next step, not a recap

Backlinko's view of most endings is blunt: "Most conclusions undo the work of the entire post." Its list of mistakes covers the usual habits: saying "in conclusion", using generic headings like "Wrapping Up, Final Thoughts, or Conclusion", restating the main point, and saving anything important for the end. If it matters, it belongs higher up.

What to end with depends on the format:

Format	A useful ending
How-to	What to do after the task: the check, the upkeep, the follow-on job
Listicle or roundup	Which item to start with; Backlinko narrows ten reviewed tools to the top two
Comparison	The one question that decides between the options
Explainer	Where the concept leads next, with a link to that page

Ahrefs' alternatives work for any format: "a one-line takeaway of your entire article, providing links to further resources, or sharing a final consideration for your readers to think about." Name the ending section after what it gives the reader ("Your first move today"), not after its position in the post.

A call to action belongs where the reader has what they need to act on it: usually in the ending, or right after the section that creates the need. One is enough; two offers compete with each other and with the post.

A blog post template you can copy

1. Title: the query or a close variant, plus what the reader gets
2. Introduction (no heading): confirm the question, give the answer or the payoff, say what follows
3. H2: the first sub-question the reader has
   • H3s: steps, options or examples inside it
4. H2: the next sub-question, and so on, in the reader's order
5. H2: mistakes, exceptions, or when the advice does not apply
6. H2: the next step, named for what it gives the reader
7. FAQ (optional): two to five follow-up questions, one paragraph each

How Structura handles this

Structura builds its outlines the way Step 1 describes. On paid plans, before each post it reads the pages currently ranking for the keyword, including their heading structure and the subtopics they cover, so the draft's headings follow the pattern those results use rather than one fixed template. On WordPress the post arrives as native blocks, with real heading blocks, lists and tables, so the structure survives in the block editor and in your theme.

The optional parts are campaign settings. Include FAQ section adds an FAQ with structured data, Include action steps adds a numbered steps section with HowTo markup, and the E-E-A-T writing option opens sections with the direct answer and cuts filler. Readability rules, including how headings break up the text, are always on.

What it does not decide is the offer your ending points to. It can place one of your own referral links in a post whose topic matches it, at most one per post, but which call to action belongs at the end of which post is a decision for you. New campaigns hold every post for review by default, which is where that decision gets made. The WordPress AI writer page covers what each finished post includes.

FAQ